Ellie could believe Dal kept his promises, especially those he’d made to his sister, but she didn’t believe that was the case with all cowboys. At least not those who thought more of the cattle they managed than people.
She wasn’t too sure she wanted to be in this man’s company all day, either. He was too likable. She’d started to feel comfortable around him, and that was a bit frightening. If she returned home liking Dal Roberts, her brothers would never let her leave the shanty ever again. They couldn’t stop her of course. Except, she had nowhere else to go.
“This way,” Dal said. “Let’s cross while it’s clear.”
She glanced both ways as he hurried her across the street and onto the boardwalk on the other side. Wichita was far larger than Buckley. People were everywhere. She’d never seen this many at one time, and it felt as if her lungs were tightening inside her chest. When a man rushing past them bumped her shoulder, she flinched and stepped closer to Dal.
“It’s always busy downtown,” he said. “And it’s easy to get lost, or turned around when you’ve never been here before.”
She hadn’t thought of that and glanced up to nod at him, but the sincerity in his eyes made her swallow instead.
“Which is why I will escort you to wherever you need to go,” he said.
This time she did manage to nod, and silently accepted the idea as a good one. She was also glad she’d made a list. Right now, with all the hustle and bustle going on around them, she couldn’t remember a single thing she needed or the addresses of the stores.
Before long they arrived at a shop with windows full of dress forms wearing beautiful gowns. The sight of them sent her heart plummeting. Would she truly be able to create something even close to these? To what Clara wanted?
“Here we are,” Dal said. “I’ll speak with the owner, tell them to have everything billed to me and delivered to the hotel.”
“And then?” she asked, feeling a bit insecure about being left alone.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t interrupt your purchasing, or hurry you along. I have some things to see to next door at the carriage shop.”
Ellie took a deep breath for fortitude and then nodded. She’d never questioned her abilities before and now wasn’t the time to start. While Dal went to speak to the woman behind the long counter, Ellie pulled out her list again, telling herself this shop was just like Silas’s store in Buckley, only bigger, and grander.
She managed to get a hold on herself and was slowly making her way around a large table holding bolts of cloth when Dal returned to her side. “All’s set,” he said. “Just sign your name at the bottom of the slip of purchases.”
“All right,” she agreed. “Thank you.”
He eyed her cautiously for a moment. “I need you to promise me something.”
Ellie stilled. She had no intention of spending frivolously, but purchasing everything on Clara’s list was going to be expensive. “I’ll try my best to keep it reasonable.”
A frown flashed across his face before he smiled. “Don’t worry about the cost. Buy everything Clara asked for and whatever else you see that she may have overlooked.” He touched her beneath the chin with one finger, forcing her to look at him. “That’s not the promise I’m going to ask.”
“Then what is?”
Chapter Seven
“That you stay here until I return. Even if you don’t find everything you need, stay here. I don’t want you wandering about alone.”
A sigh pushed upward, but caught in her throat and stayed there. He sounded as if he was worried about her. “I won’t,” she said, a bit breathless, her lungs burning. “I promise.”
“Good girl,” he said. “I won’t be long.” He started for the door, but paused little more than a step away to turn back around. “And, Ellie...”
She held her gaze on his, wondering, yet unable to think of anything else he might need to say.
“Enjoy yourself.” Then he tipped the brim of his hat to her with one hand and walked out of the door.
The air rushed out of Ellie’s lungs with such force that she had to brace herself by placing a hand on the table full of material. She stood there for a moment, sucking in breaths to refill her lungs and staring at Dal as he walked past the window. What was wrong with her? She’d never been so lightheaded and her heart had never beaten so hard, not ever. Well, maybe once before, when she’d thought she’d stepped on a rattlesnake.
“Did you find anything to your liking?”
Ellie tore her gaze away from the window to face the woman beside her and flinched slightly at the burning sensation in her cheeks.
“If not, I have more bolts in the back room,” the woman said. “And everything else you’ll need for the most beautiful wedding gown ever.”
Flustered and feeling as uprooted as a discarded weed, Ellie thrust out her hand. “I have a list.”
Abigail Hollingsworth turned out to be exactly what Ellie needed. The woman was not only the shop owner, but an excellent seamstress who graciously took it upon herself to explain exactly how to recreate one of the gowns in the window. Abigail was also willing to strike a bargain when she learned things were on sale elsewhere. Ellie’s good-sense had returned, and her focus was once again on Clara’s dress, which meant she now clearly remembered the advertisements she’d read in the newspaper.
She’d completed her shopping, and was just about to sign the bottom of the slip when someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, dear. I called your name but you must not have heard me. It’s me, Mildred Krantz from the train. Remember?”
Turning, Ellie smiled at the familiar face. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Krantz, of course I remember you, I—”
“You were too busy with your purchase,” Mildred finished for her. “I see that. I just wanted to tell you our wonderful news. You aren’t going to believe this. Oh, it’s just so wonderful!”
Mildred grabbed Ellie’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug so swiftly the pencil slipped from Ellie’s fingers and rolled across the floor.
“Last night, shortly after we arrived at our daughter’s house, Miss Priss had a litter of kittens.”
Excitement lit up the older woman’s face, and Ellie couldn’t bring herself to say she’d expected as much. “Really? How delightful.” After returning the other woman’s hug, Ellie stepped back. “I do hope Miss Priss is doing well.”
“Oh, yes, very well, and so are the babies, all five of them. Henry and I are just beside ourselves with happiness.”
Ellie sort of doubted that Henry was overjoyed, but she wasn’t about to breathe a word of that, either. “I’m sure you are. Congratulations.”
“Oh, thank you, dear,” Mildred said. “I recognized you through the window and said to my daughter, ‘Oh, there’s Mrs. Roberts from the train, I have to tell her about Miss Priss.’ I knew you would want to know.”
Ellie held her breath, prepared to point out the woman’s mistake in thinking she was Dal’s wife, but Mildred was still talking.
“Henry says this will not delay our trip home, but I told him that if Miss Priss isn’t up to traveling, we aren’t leaving. I told you our granddaughter is singing in church on Sunday and—”
“Excuse me,” another woman interrupted, elbowing her way alongside Mildred.
Assuming she was Mildred’s daughter, Ellie smiled at the woman. “Hello.”
“Did I hear her call you Mrs. Roberts?” the woman asked.
Mildred answered before Ellie could. “Yes. Mrs. Dal Roberts of the Rocking R. We met on the train. I’m Mildred Krantz, and you are?”
“None of your business,” the woman said, pushing Mildred aside so roughly that she stumbled. “You can’t be married to Dal Roberts.”
The anger that had rushed up inside Ellie at the way
the woman treated Mildred floundered as her stomach fell, yet she still couldn’t find her voice to agree with the stranger—she wasn’t Dal’s wife.
“Yes, she is,” Mildred insisted.
“No, she’s not,” the woman snapped.
“Yes, she is,” Mildred said. “I told you, my husband and I met them on the train from Buckley yesterday and—”
“Dal Roberts would never be married to the likes of her!” the woman hissed.
“That will be enough,” Abigail exclaimed. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave if—”
“Shut up, both of you!” the woman spat out as her burning glare closed in on Ellie. “You are not married to Dal. Admit it! Speak up! Or are you deaf and mute?”
At that point, it wouldn’t have mattered if the woman had been asking if Ellie was married to the President of the United States. No one had the right to be that rude, or insulting. Ellie stepped forward, planting her nose right before the other woman’s. “Deaf and mute? No, I’m not deaf or mute, and I’m not mean and nasty, either.”
“You little strumpet.” The woman seethed with anger. “Why, I ought to—”
“Ought to what?” While the other woman huffed and turned redder, Ellie continued, “Cat got your tongue? Don’t worry, it’ll spit it out. Cats don’t eat rotten meat.”
The woman actually hissed, and Ellie’s natural instincts kicked in. She’d learned plenty from scrapping with her brothers over the years and intuition had her ducking. The woman’s hand didn’t connect with anything, but Ellie felt it swoosh over her head and heard a screech of dissatisfaction. She took a step back before lifting her head and then she brought up both fists, ready to pop the woman on the nose. To her disappointment, the other woman was being pushed away from the counter by a man. She was still shouting some sort of gibberish, and Ellie was about to respond when she noticed a second man coming through the shop’s doorway.
Her stomach dropped all the way to the floor while her heart clawed its way up her throat like a cat caught in a dried-up well.
Dal didn’t even glance toward the man and the woman making all the ruckus. Instead, his gaze remained solely on her. Realizing her hands were still raised, Ellie dropped them to her sides and wished she could disappear. Completely disappear.
While the other man pushed the still-struggling woman toward the doorway, Dal moved forward. “Are you finished?”
Biting her lip until it hurt, Ellie nodded.
He kept walking closer. “Your purchases will be delivered to the hotel?”
She nodded again.
Once at her side, he took her elbow. It was a gentle hold, but Ellie imagined that would change as soon as they stepped outside.
“Excuse me, Mr. Roberts, your wife didn’t have a chance to sign the slip yet.”
Ellie couldn’t blame Abigail. The woman didn’t know she wasn’t Dal’s wife, just like Mildred, who seemed to have disappeared. It was all a simple misunderstanding. One Dal most likely wouldn’t understand. He might realize Mildred’s mistake, as he’d heard her on the train, but when it came to Abigail and the other woman, that was her fault. She should have said something right away.
“I’ll sign it,” he said.
“I’m so sorry about what happened,” Abigail said, glancing toward the empty doorway. “I have no idea who that woman is. I’ve never seen her before. And I must say, I hope I never do again. I hope it won’t stop you from shopping here again.”
“You can’t control who walks through your doors,” Dal said. “I’m sure Ellie will shop here on each of her trips to Wichita.”
The chances of her ever visiting Wichita again were next to nil, yet Ellie nodded. The shopkeeper had been extremely helpful, and deserved her thanks. She found her voice. “I appreciate all of your assistance, Abigail, and I’m sorry to have caused such a scene.”
“You didn’t cause anything but pleasure,” Abigail said. “It was all that other woman. I look forward to seeing you again.”
“Good day,” Dal said, steering Ellie toward the door.
* * *
He’d heard and seen enough to know exactly what had happened, and was trying his darnedest to figure out what to do about it. Of course he’d known that Caroline and Ed would be in town for the cattlemen’s meeting and the ball, but he hadn’t expected this mess. None of it would have happened if he’d told Henry and Mildred on the train that Ellie wasn’t his wife, but it had seemed a minor issue then.
It wasn’t now.
“I’m sorry,” Ellie said as they walked down the boardwalk. “One minute Mildred was telling me about Miss Priss’s kittens and the next minute that nasty woman was shouting at both Mildred and Abigail to shut up and calling me names. I lost my temper, and I shouldn’t have. I should have—”
“Miss Priss had her kittens, did she?” Dal asked, grateful to change the subject.
“Yes, five kittens, last night.”
He nodded, glancing around. Caroline and Ed were nowhere in sight. It had taken him longer than he’d expected to finish his business at the carriage shop. If he’d been there a little earlier, the entire escapade would have been avoided. He’d heard the shouting while walking up the street, and had started to run when he’d seen Ed enter the shop at full speed. He’d arrived in time to see Ellie duck a blow from Caroline, and then Ed pulling her away. It was a good thing Ed had been there, as he wouldn’t have been so gentle.
He’d figured Ellie was a scrapper, having been raised with her two brothers, but when she had come up, fists barred, he’d had to bite back a chuckle. Of the two women, he’d place his money on Ellie if it came to a fistfight, but that wasn’t the way Caroline fought. She was mean and vengeful. That was what scared him. Learning that Ellie wasn’t his wife would make Caroline the winner, but she’d take things further—she’d make sure that everyone knew.
Letting out a sigh, he asked, “Where to now?”
“Actually,” Ellie said, “Abigail had everything I, or Clara, I should say, need. Except for the shoes.”
“We can buy those later,” he said, “if you want to return to the hotel.”
Her sigh echoed his. A moment later, she turned to look up at him. “This isn’t all my fault you know.”
“What?”
She gave him a grimace that said she knew he knew.
“I never said anything was your fault,” he told her while taking her arm to keep her close as a group of women approached.
“You never told Henry and Mildred Krantz I wasn’t your wife, and you could have,” she hissed near his ear.
He waited until all the women were past them before saying, “You could have, too.”
She sighed again. “That’s true, but I didn’t want to chase them down the train aisle, nor shout over their arguing.”
“I didn’t, either.”
“I didn’t think it would matter,” she said quietly. “I didn’t think it would come back to haunt me.”
“Is the idea of being married to me haunting?” For some unimaginable reason, he found he truly wanted to know her answer.
“When it’s completely impossible, yes.”
“Why would it be completely impossible?”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t need to. Not verbally at least. Her eyes said it all. They’d filled with something akin to disgust.
“Nothing’s impossible,” he said, nodding for them to cross the street while there was a chance.
She stepped off the boardwalk and kept up with his fast pace. “Plenty of things are impossible.”
“Name one.”
Stepping onto the boardwalk on the other side, she stopped and spun around to look up at him. Her brown eyes were so dark he could almost see his reflection in them, and the dark lashes surrounding them were long, with the tips curled upward. He’d
never seen eyes so stunning. They could be called sinful. At least they seemed that way to him, made him think about things that he shouldn’t be thinking about.
“You don’t seem very upset over what happened,” she said. “Why?”
He shrugged. He was trying not to think about what had happened. “Because it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. It’s a lie, and I don’t lie.”
“It’s not a lie.” He took her arm again as they walked to the hotel’s front doors. “It’s a misunderstanding. Nothing more.”
“Well, I don’t like misunderstandings any more than I like lies,” she said. “And you don’t, either.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do, and don’t try to tell me I’m wrong, because I’m not.”
Dal didn’t answer. It wasn’t because she was right, but because Oscar had seen them coming and was holding the door open for them. The lobby was filled with plenty of customers, so he guided her directly to the staircase. As they climbed, he said, “I have to meet some people this afternoon, but I do have time for lunch if you’re hungry.”
“Hungry? Good heavens, we just ate breakfast.”
“Three hours ago,” he pointed out. “My meetings will take up all of the afternoon.”
A frown covered her face.
“I’ll be back in time for supper,” he explained, feeling a bit unsure. It wasn’t his place to tell her to stay in her room. If Clara had been there with her, he wouldn’t have had to, but one woman roaming the streets alone, especially one who’d never been to Wichita, was unsafe. He didn’t like the idea of her encountering some of the local riffraff. He’d taught Clara how to handle herself and a gun, and while he’d seen Ellie with her fists drawn, he figured her brothers had never taught her how to avoid a confrontation. “If you get hungry while I’m gone, you can have something delivered to your room.”
She walked the remainder of the way to their rooms before she stopped and looked up at him. “I have food if I get hungry, and you don’t need to worry about me running up and down the streets shouting that I’m married to you.”
Western Spring Weddings Page 22
